Card skimmers are on the rise in Tennessee’s rural counties

MIDDLE TENNESSEE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Law enforcement officials in rural counties around Middle Tennessee have reported an uptick in credit card skimmers.

Humphreys County alone has seen five to six skimmer scams within the past 30 days. That includes one at Chappel’s Foods that McEwen Police found on July 20, which they believe may have been there for over a month.

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“It’s definitely theft and the amount that they’re getting at one time is a felony amount,” McEwen Police Department Deputy Chief Lee Miller said. “Most of the time, the ones that I’ve seen have been just an overlay that sits directly over top of the keypad.”

Skimmers have also popped up in three different stores in Lawrence County. Additionally, skimmers were seen at a Chapel Hill grocery store. Managers told News 2 that suspects were able to distract a cashier briefly and place a skimmer over a card reader.

This incident is similar to what police believe may have happened in McEwen.

“It took a matter of seconds to pop this overlayer right over top of the original card scanner,” Miller said. “It was very difficult to try to find the suspects in these cases.”

Law enforcement agents urged residents to check your bank statements, change PINs if you’ve visited any of these stores, and report any suspicious card activity to police.

“We’re seeing a lot more of them in this area lately. They’ve been on the rise,” Miller said. “I would say that using your chip or tap to pay is way more secure because these card skimmers get the information from the magnetic strip on the back of the card.”

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Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis told News 2 that in addition to card skimmers at stores, he has seen skimmers pop up at gas stations. He urged anyone with information on these incidents to report it to local law enforcement agencies right away.

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